Orthodontic Treatment

Orthodontic treatment is sometimes about more that just straight teeth

If a sleep disorder is preventing you from a restful night’s sleep, you might want to consider orthodontic treatment. Bad, or misaligned bites, also known as malocclusions, can be a result of genetics, injuries, anatomy or damaged teeth.

Acquired malocclusions can be caused by:

Malocclusions due to genetics can be mainly attributed to tooth size or jaw size. A “bad bite” is often caused by teeth that don’t fit your jaw properly; they’re either too bog or too small.

Regardless of what caused your malocclusion, the problem can affect not only your teeth’s teeth alignment, and your facial development and appearance, it can lead to TMJ snoring or sleep apnea.

How does your bite affect your sleep?

Orthodontic treatment can be used to correct of an assortment of facial and jaw problems. The result is a more balanced bite, making it easier to breath and, therefore, sleep. Here are two scenarios outlining how the shape of your mouth, jaw and teeth can impact your tongue and your breathing.

If, as a child, you had difficulty breathing, perhaps due to allergies, the shape of your jaw could have been impacted. Your tongue’s natural resting place is on the the roof of your mouth. If, due to congested nasal passages, you were forced to breath through your mouth, you had to move your tongue out to the way to let air in. This took your tongue away from its natural position leaving your developing upper mouth arch without the support it needed from your tongue. The result, a narrow upper arch and a tongue that doesn’t fit properly.

If your tongue doesn’t have enough room in your mouth, it can get pushed to the back of your mouth blocking your airway while you sleep.By using orthodontics to give your tongue the room it needs, the volume of air that can move through your airway increases.

Reshape your jaw to resolve your sleep problems

You may benefit from orthodontic treatment through the re-positioning and re-alignment of your jaw. This is usually achieved by expanding your upper and lower jaw and ultimately widening your breathing airway. There are lots of options when it comes to orthodontics these days.

If you wonder if your jaw could be what is causing your sleeping disorder, come in and find out.